


Heats and Ruts

by whitehorsetiger



Series: Pack Dynamics [4]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alpha Lance (Voltron), Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Bottom Keith (Voltron), Established Relationship, Fluff, Heats and Ruts, M/M, Omega Keith (Voltron), Smut, Top Lance (Voltron), relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-30 02:39:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,221
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17215469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whitehorsetiger/pseuds/whitehorsetiger
Summary: Heats and ruts are a completely natural process of omegas and alphas respectively. Heats and ruts will only begin after presenting at around age sixteen. Heats occur every three months after settling, normally one or two years after presenting. Ruts, once settled, normally after their first or second rut, should only occur when in close proximity to an omega in heat. It is not uncommon for an alpha to have a random rut once every few years, but some alphas will go through life having no ruts other than their first.Five times a heat/rut went wrong and one time they went right.





	1. Chapter 1

_Heats and ruts are a completely natural process of omegas and alphas respectively. Heats and ruts will only begin after presenting at around age sixteen. Heats occur every three months after settling, normally one or two years after presenting. Ruts, once settled, normally after their first or second rut, should only occur when in close proximity to an omega in heat. It is not uncommon for an alpha to have a random rut once every few years, but some alphas will go through life having no ruts other than their first._

**One-First Heat**

 

Keith being an omega came as a surprise to everyone, except Keith. He was stubborn and not afraid to stand toe-to-toe with anyone, baring his teeth and growling at anyone who tried to challenge him. It was for all these reasons, most people thought he would be an alpha. Keith thought they were all morons, he had so many tells that he was an omega, they just chose to ignore them.

It started with an itch under his skin, a warmth in his belly. Keith ignored it. He was sixteen, borderline presenting, surrounded by people the same age all presenting. It was normal for him to feel a bit off, what with all the scents and, people. An alpha’s rut had been triggered earlier that morning, so everyone was feeling extra-sensitive.

Keith doubled over slightly as a cramp ran through him, gritting his teeth as to not cry out in pain. That was, different, but Keith was busy, he didn’t have time for the strange things his body was doing. Another slight wave of warmth surged through him and Keith really should have paid attention to what his body was telling him, because by his fourth class, black spots were dancing in front of his vision. It didn’t take him long to black out after that.

****

Keith woke up to nothing but agony searing through his body, a warmth running under his skin and a churning in his stomach. He was in heat, his first ever heat. Keith had read about heats and ruts, of course he had, all the reading in the world could not prepare him for this. He was in a scent-sterile room, surrounded by scentless blankets. He hated it.

The room was too sterile, empty and felt so cold, even if it wasn’t. Keith couldn’t help the slight whine as another cramp wracked his body, head snapping around almost frantically. He needed somewhere safe, safer than this. He knew, he knew what this place was. In the fog of his mind though, it was very difficult to convince himself this was a safe place, he was just in one of the heat rooms at the garrison. There, something very similar to a large cupboard tucked away to the side. The perfect place for him to build a hidden nest.

Keith pushed himself to his feet, or at least attempted too. His knees gave way when he tried to put any weight on his legs, hitting the icy floor with a thump and a hiss. Getting across the room seemed like an impossible task, but Keith couldn’t return to the bed, it was not safe. Taking a deep shuddering breath, Keith gathered all the blankets from the bed into his arms and started on the seemingly impossible task of getting across the room.

Heat blazed through him, the slight pain seeming to slip away and, in its place, arousal. Keith fumbled blindly for the door to the hide, groaning as another wave of, whatever he was feeling rolled through him again. Finally it slid open and Keith shoved the blankets in, crawling after them. He shoved the doors mostly closed behind him, before hurriedly constructing a messy nest. That was where he rode out the rest of his fist heat. A mixture of emotions and feelings surging through him seemingly at random, it didn’t take long for Keith to stop trying to work out what he was feeling, just lay there and let it wash over him. He’d cried so much, sometimes for no apparent reason. By the end, Keith was drained, thoroughly exhausted and feeling like absolute crap. But at the very least, at least he’d gotten through it.

**Two-First Rut**

 

Lance hadn’t really given much thought to what his secondary sex was going to be, he frankly didn’t really care and was pretty sure he was going to be a beta. Whatever it was going to be, he didn’t really care. Even when he reached fifteen years old at the garrison and everyone started speculating, he didn’t really care. It was fine, Hunk didn’t seem all that fussed about it either so Lance didn’t feel all that pressures to try to work it out. Looking back though, it was pretty obvious he was an alpha.

Lance was a late presenter, well, late under the circumstances. He was almost seventeen, pretty much everyone else in his year had presented. Even Hunk’s scent had shifted from pup-sweet to comforting beta, Lance was hoping for the same thing, Lance expected the same thing. Boy, he couldn’t be more wrong.

It started with a heat under his skin. He was irritable and quick to anger, along with the…something bubbling in his belly, that meant he was going to go into his first heat or rut, with the anger, probably a rut. That was only confirmed later that day.  
“Dude,” Hunk said, wrinkling his nose, “You smell like alpha.”  
“I know,” Lance sighed, “I think I’m going into rut.”  
“Ah, should you maybe, go to the nurse?” Hunk replied, tilting his head to one side.  
“Probably,” Lance shrugged.  
“You know ignoring it won’t make it go away,” Hunk said, resting a warm hand on Lance’s shoulder and giving it a squeeze.  
“I know,” Lance sighed, “I’ll go.”  
He stood up, making his way to the door. Well, this was going to…Lance didn’t really want to think about it.

****

How he could be unbelievably horny and in so much pain at the same time was completely beyond Lance. He’d been shut in one of the rut rooms, a completely clean, sterile room, containing nothing but a bed. Lance groaned and flipped over, curling up as tightly as he could. Without the scent of his pack, his family around him, Lance felt incredibly vulnerable.

Fire burned through his body, and not in a good way. He didn’t dare look down, Lance had seen an alpha’s dick in rut during health class, seeing it on himself would probably completely horrify him. The covers almost seemed to hurt where they were pressed up against his skin. He couldn’t sleep, all he could do was turn over and over in his bed, letting the whatever he was feeling wash over him. Why, why the hell did he have to be an alpha?

****

Lance padded over to his and Hunk’s room, rut scent washed off by the shower he’d taken. Although everyone at the garrison had to wear scent blockers, to his just-presented nose it was still overwhelming. Pressing his t-shirt over his nose, Lance sped up a bit, making his way down the residential area. It was worse here, with nobody bothering with a scent blocker in their rooms. Lance hurriedly hammered in the code to his and Hunk’s room, breathing out a sigh of relief when it slid open.

Although the rooms weren’t scent proof, Hunk’s scent overpowered anyone else’s. Hunk, the absolute angel, scrambled to his feet the second Lance stepped into the room. He was crushed in a hug, one Lance immediately slumped into.  
“Are you alright?” Hunk asked, “How was it?”  
“I’ve been better,” Lance grumbled, “And the worst.”  
Hunk pulled a face, holding him at arm’s length.  
“So you need anything?” he asked, “We can sneak down into the kitchen?”  
Lance sighed, rubbing his eye.  
“I just want to sleep,” he said, padding over to his bed, “Maybe tomorrow.”  
Hunk nodded, shifting nervously.  
“So, an alpha, huh?”  
“Sleep Hunk,” Lance grumbled, “Just, go to sleep.”  
“Ok,” Hunk said softly.  
The light clicked out and Lance let his exhaustion take him.

**Three-Dry Heat**

Keith’s cycle was completely messed up, or at the very least he was sure it was pretty messed up. He’d managed to take some suppressants into space with him, tucked in the pockets of his not fanny pack Lance. From them, Coran had managed to reverse synthesise some for his use in space. He managed to keep up this supply in the blade of Marmora. Even though he was supposed to have one heat a year, time was difficult in space so how long he’d been using them was a mystery.

When he’d gotten trapped on the space whale with his mother, there were no suppressants at all. So, for the first time in years, Keith was on a normal…ish cycle. Stress and worry and just, all the emotions that the quantum abyss made him feel was really messing with him. Although, time was tricky, so he could actually be having a heat once every three months and have no idea. Returning to earth, beating the galra and recovering from their injuries and everything was just a mess. He’d been on earth for a while now, his heat still having not have happened despite it having been over six months. Keith was not surprised, or really too worried, wouldn’t be the first time his cycles messed up and it wouldn’t be a last.

****

Keith shuffled slightly, trying not to be too obvious about it. He wasn’t jealous, Lance could talk to whoever it wanted, but did it have to be a super attractive omega? He’d seen the way they fawned all over him now, not at all interested before he became part of Voltron, now though. Keith knew he was being irrational, but screw it, Lance was his alpha.

Keith shuffled right up to Lance’s side, pressing against him. Lance was completely unbothered by this, curling his arm around Keith’s waist and giving it a light squeeze. Keith practically melted against him, which was a bit odd but whatever. Keith tucked himself as close as possible, glowering at the other omega. Was he overreacting? Probably? Did he care? No, especially when she shot him a nervous look and excused herself. Exactly, Lance was his.

Lance hummed slightly, turning his head to nuzzle Keith gently, taking a deep breath. Keith hummed, tilting his head back and baring his neck.  
“Keith,” Lance said cautiously, pulling back a little.  
Keith whined, no, come back. Lance held him firm, cupping Keith’s face in his hands. He smoothed his thumbs under Keith’s eyes, before ducking to nuzzle Keith’s scent gland and take a deep breath of the result.  
“Lance?” Keith questioned softly.  
He tried to both pull away and wriggle closer, not really sure about Lance’s unusual behaviour.  
“You’re going into heat,” Lance rumbled, looking up at him.  
“What?” Keith said, rubbing the bridge of his nose, “No, I can’t, I don’t.”  
He groaned, rubbing his eye. He dropped his head on Lance’s shoulder. It made sense really, what he’d been feeling, how attached to Lance he’d been lately. How tilting his head and burying himself in Lance’s scent and warm arms had just relaxed him completely.  
“I don’t have time for this,” Keith sighed, nosing at Lance’s scent gland.  
Lance’s hand shifted to run through his hair, pressing a kiss to his temple.  
“I don’t think you have much of a choice,” he said.  
Keith grumbled lightly, “I know how heats work Lance.”  
Lance sighed, pinching the flesh of Keith’s hip, making him yelp slightly.  
“What are you going to do about it?”

Him and Lance hadn’t been dating that long, well, in the grand scheme of things. He’d been friends with Lance for so long and they’d shared a nest and Pidge said they acted like an old married couple, didn’t really make it appropriate for what he was tempted to ask.  
“I…” Keith tapered off, biting his lip.  
“Don’t worry about what others think,” Lance said softly, “What do you want?”  
They’d had sex, multiple times, but having sex while in heat was an all other level. Even if they wanted too, they couldn’t. Not only were suppressants almost impossible to come by now, birth control was even more difficult.  
“Is it too much to ask for you to be there, but not, in my nest,” Keith said.  
“You want me to camp outside your room?” Lance asked, “Or next to you?”  
Keith bumped their noses together.  
“Next to me.”

****

Preparing for his heat was, difficult, especially as he didn’t have much time to prepare. People wanted to talk to him, wanted him to do things. Luckily, now he knew what was happening, Lance was almost constantly hovering by his side. More often than not, his growling sent people packing. With this, along with the actual help Lance was able to provide, Keith was more than ready by the time his instincts screamed at him to remain in his room.

Keith curled up on his side, trying not to grumble as he suffered through that strange state between heat and pre-heat. There was warmth under his skin, an uncomfortable ache in his hips and pure exhaustion weighing him down without any of the horniness erasing it all. Keeping Lance around had hands down been his best idea. Not only was his scent incredibly comforting and made him feel so safe, Lance just, talked to him. Well, more at him. It helped distract Keith from the strange things going on in Keith’s body. Yeah, this was good.

Keith woke up feeling horrifying. Pain was blazing through his body, heat churning through him, but not in the usual way. He felt horrible and scared and just wanted to bury himself down in his nest and never leave. His head was a complete haze, everything in him screaming danger, pain, get away! Keith buried himself into his nest, deeper into his blankets. There was a scent permeating the room, something warm and safe. Alpha, his alpha, Keith needed to get to his alpha. Lance, he needed Lance.

Keith followed his nose, to the edge of his bed, to the edge his nest. Keith’s hand slipped off the bed, causing hm to smash his face into the mattress. If he was in his right mind, Keith would’ve been so embarrassed by the pathetic whine he let out, followed by soft whimpering. It got the desired effect though. Lance sat bold upright from the mattress he’d been sleeping on, eyes darting around in confusion before they landed on Keith.

“Keith?” Lance said rubbing his eye.  
He sniffed the air cautiously, humming thoughtfully.  
“Your heat’s started,” he said, “It’s ok, I’ll be right here ok?”  
No, no that was not good enough, he needed Lance, here, with him. It was too much, everything was too much. Keith launched himself out of his nest, latching onto Lance’s shoulders, almost sending the two of them toppling backwards. Lance tensed slightly, before wrapping his arms around Keith’s waist.  
“Hey,” Lance said softly, “It’s ok.”  
Keith buried his face in Lance’s neck, taking the slight relief he got from Lance’s scent. He was still awkwardly stretched out from his nest to Lance, shaking slightly. Embarrassingly, his eyes were starting to water, but Keith hurt so much, he was so scared.  
“Lance, alpha, please,” Keith sobbed softly, “I need you.”  
“I…” Lance faltered, “This is a dry heat isn’t it? I can’t smell slick? Shoot, Keith, what do I do?”  
Lance was starting to panic, which was really not helping Keith’s current mental state. He was shaking so badly, pawing weakly at Lance’s back.  
“Please,” he said.  
“Ok,” Lance said softly, “But please don’t hate me after.”

Keith whined as Lance gently pushed him back into his nest, chirruping lightly as Lance pressed a kiss to his temple before clambering in alongside him. Keith shifted to lay on Lance’s chest, curling up as small as he could. Blankets were tugged up and over his head, right up to Lance’s neck. It encased Keith completely in a cocoon of his and Lance’s scent. Lance’s hand moved down to massage his back, slightly easing the ache that had set in around Keith’s hips. It was enough to relax Keith, enabling him to drift off into a reasonably peaceful sleep.

****

The rest of his heat passed in a haze, Keith barely lucid throughout. Lance made sure he ate and drank and didn’t become too stressed. It was one of the worst dry heats he’d had, only Lance’s presence keeping him from completely spiralling. Lance was freaking out, but luckily kept it internalised enough for it to not panic Keith. It was a delicate balancing act, but the two of them managed.

Keith’s return to consciousness was a regretful one, being awake was overrated. Everything seemed to hurt, a bone-deep ache that felt like it would never leave. Ducking his head down, Keith buried his face in…Lance’s t-shirt below his head. Groaning slightly, Keith tried to remember the last few days. It was difficult, most of it just a haze of pain and fear. Through it all though was Lance, freaking out, but still there for him.

Keith looked up, shifting the covers so they were no longer completely covering his head. Lance was fast asleep, snoring lightly. Keith smiled, shifting up, wincing at the pain in his hips. He didn’t even have the pleasurable memory of sex to make the ache worth it, stupid dry heat. Pushing himself up, to hover over Lance’s face, Keith couldn’t help the stupidly mushy smile spreading across his face.

Leaning down, Keith pressed a soft kiss to Lance’s cheek, under his eye, brow, forehead, nose, then lips. Lance groaned, eyes flickering open slowly.  
“Hey,” Keith said softly.  
Lance shifted slightly, a slight smile spreading across his face. Before it fell, a warm hand reaching up to rest on his cheek.  
“Are you alright?” Lance said.  
Keith smiled gently, leaning against his hand.  
“I ache, but I’m fine,” Keith replied, “It’s over.”  
Lance breathed out the biggest sigh of relief, hand dropping down on the bed beside him.  
“Oh thank god,” he said, “No offense but, that was rough.”  
Keith rolled his eyes, “Imagine having to go through it.”  
Lance hummed, wrapping his arms around Keith’s waist, squeezing him close. Smiling, Keith laid down on Lance’s chest.  
“I’m glad you were here,” he said quietly.  
Lance let out a happy rumble, nuzzling and rubbing their faces together.  
“You tell anyone, I will gut you,” Keith grumbled in reply, but couldn’t stop the goofy smile on his face.

  
**Four- False Rut**

Ok, so maybe Lance was a bit stressed. He was a paladin of Voltron, leader of a pack, courting a fiery stubborn omega who seemed to have no concept of self-care. In fact none of his pack members seemed to have any concept of self-care, except Hunk, who was an angel…and Coran, who was a bit old for Lance to really look after. So yeah, Lance was a little stressed. It didn’t really help that he was still carrying some stresses from being on earth, along with missing his family and the guilt for missing his family because they hadn’t been back in space that long and he was able to call them every day. But Shiro was counting on him looking after the pack, he just had to press on.

None of this seemed to be helped by the fact the last mission was a complete flop. Lance had woken up feeling slightly off his game, nothing too bad though, so he pressed on. As the mission to take down the base progressed though, he began to feel worse and worse. He missed a shot on a sentry due to a bout of dizziness, meaning the alarm was triggered and they all had to fight their way out. Bouts of dizziness and black spots dancing in front of his eyes meant he was more of a hinderance than a help. Eventually they got out when Pidge somehow, accidentally blew up the base.

Lance felt awful, but he had to ignore that for now. He had a pack to look after, he came second. He’d gotten lucky though, Pidge had passed out the second she sat down, slumping against Hunk. Allura looked like she was seconds away from dropping off too, it didn’t take much convincing for her to head off to bed. Scooping Pidge up, Lance made his way towards the living quarters. She snuggled closer, gripping his shirt. Smiling lightly, Lance hammered in the code for her room before depositing her on her bed.  
“Night Pidge,” Lance said, removing her shoes and tucking her in before leaving.  
Hunk was making his way into his room as Lance emerged.  
“Have you seen Keith?”  
“Control room,” Hunk said, patting Lance on the back, “Are you ok? You seem a bit off?”  
“I’m just tired,” Lance smiled weakly.  
And tired, and nauseous, and dizzy. He would be fine so, just needed some sleep, it didn’t matter.  
“Alright man,” Hunk smiled, “Remember to look after yourself.”  
“Don’t worry, I’ll be fine,” Lance said, “I’ll just grab Keith and head to bed.”  
Hunk nodded, heading into his room.

The control room was often were Keith went when a mission went wrong, when he was too exhausted to train, now he was actually willing to admit when he was too tired. Lance let out a long breath, hopefully this wouldn’t be too difficult, he was too exhausted for an argument.

The door slid open, Lance tucked his hands in his pockets as he walked in.  
“Hey man,” he said, “You doing alright?”  
Keith was stood in the middle of the room, leaning against the holo-conference table. His eyes were darting around, watching the tiny dots move around. He was reviewing todays battle, Lance didn’t really know if that was a good, or bad thing.  
“What do you want Lance?” Keith said, not even looking up.  
Bad thing, oh boy, Lance really didn’t want to get involved in this but he really didn’t have a choice.

“I want you to go to bed,” Lance said, “We’re all exhausted and I think you are too.”  
Keith let out a long breath, “I’ll come to bed soon, I just want to look through this.”  
“Come on Keith,” Lance drew out the vowel, walking over to him, “Come to bed.”  
Keith sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose.  
“Lance, don’t, leave me alone,” Keith said, “Just, I need to go over this ok, I need to see where we went wrong.”  
“Can’t you do that in the morning?” Lance said, shuffling over, tilting his head to one side.  
“No,” Keith said, “Go away Lance.”  
“I…can’t I help?” Lance asked.  
“Go to bed Lance, you’re clearly exhausted, you missed so many shots today. I don’t need you here, I can do this myself, stop babying me, I don’t need it,” Keith snapped, “So stop bothering me and go to bed.”  
That hurt, that hurt so much more than it really should. Keith was just frustrated, there was no real malice behind it. Why did it hurt so much then? Why the hell was Lance feeling so sensitive? Lance turned and began to head to bed, he couldn’t find the energy to argue anymore.

Lance staggered into their room, the dizziness having returned in full force. Leaning against the wall, Lance took several deep breaths. What the hell was going on with him? He felt so warm, muscles aching more than what they should be after a mission. His stomach rolled and Lance staggered to the toilet, just managing to reach it before his stomach decided to empty itself. He should contact Coran, something was very clearly wrong. Getting across the room to the comms panel was impossible right now, even though his stomach had completely emptied itself. Darkness was starting to eclipse his vision, dizziness reaching its peak. Lance slipped sideways, hitting the bathroom floor as his vision went black.

“Lance! Lance?!” Keith’s voice broke through the haze in Lance’s mind.  
He tried to pick his head up from where it was uncomfortably pressed against the bathroom floor, but everything hurt so much. Everything seemed to burn, from his skin right down to his bones. A hand rested on his arm, Lance jerked away and snarled, ready to fight off whoever was there.  
“Lance, Lance it’s ok, it’s me.”  
The haze cleared a little, eyes flicking open. Tilting his head back, Lance sniffed the air. Keith, it was just Keith. Lance relaxed, slumping forwards. Keith shuffled forwards slightly, then when Lance didn’t move, carefully wrapping his arms around Lance and pulling him close. Lance’s face fell onto Keith’s shoulder and he buried himself in Keith’s neck.  
“Lance? Lance? What’s wrong?” Keith said urgently, shaking Lance’s shoulder lightly.  
“I don’t, feel good,” Lance said, feeling the darkness creep up on him again.

****

Lance couldn’t really remember what happened over the next few days. According to Keith, he spent the time sleeping, thrashing around in pain, throwing up and snarling whenever someone so much as passed by the door. That became a problem as he wouldn’t let Keith go to get anything, making horribly distressed noises whenever he did.

Lance slowly returned to himself, feeling warmth under his cheek and over his back. He wasn’t on the bathroom floor anymore. Carefully he shuffled around, moving to push himself up slightly. Pain laced through every single muscle he had, even those he didn’t know he had. A hand immediately moved from his back to the back of his head, smoothing through his hair before pushing him down to rest against a warm neck. A familiar scent filled his nose, making Lance hum slightly.  
“It’s ok,” Keith said softly, “It’s just me, I’m here.”  
“Keith?” Lance slurred slightly, “What happened?”  
“Lance?” Keith replied, shifting slightly to try and look at Lance’s face, “You back with me?”

Lance groaned, pushing himself up as best he could with protesting muscles. Keith cupped his cheeks gently, brushing under Lance’s eyes with his thumbs.  
“Where did I go?” Lance asked, trying to smile, but it hurt.  
Keith let out a long breath, “You had a false rut.”  
Lance reached up to rub his head, groaning.  
“Explains why I feel like crap,” he said, before burrowing back into Keith’s chest.  
Warm fingers reached up to scratch through his hair, the other slipping under his shirt to rub up and down his back.  
“Are you ok?” Keith asked.  
He sounded incredibly worried, a small part of Lance melting inside.  
“I’ll be fine,” Lance replied, “Don’t worry.”  
“I found you unconscious on the bathroom floor! You almost attacked me! Of course I was worried!” Keith said.  
“I did what,” Lance said, sitting upright, or at least trying too.  
Pain, so much pain and dizziness burned through him, causing his arms to give out.

“Easy,” Keith said, arms curling tightly around him, “Careful, geez.”  
“I did what?” Lance reiterated.  
“Don’t worry about it,” Keith sighed, “You were completely out of it, I pushed forwards a bit too fast, it’s not your fault, ok?”  
Lance snuggled in closer, a frown on his face. Keith’s hand reached up, resting on the side of Lance’s face.  
“I was so worried,” Keith said softly, “I thought I was going to lose you, you seemed so ill. Is this why you were missing shots on the mission, why didn’t you tell anyone?”  
Lance shrugged, “I didn’t think it was so bad, thought I could just sleep it off later.”  
Keith let out a long breath, squeezing him close.  
“Get some rest Lance,” he said.  
Lance hummed, curling up tightly.  
“Sorry for what I said, before,” Keith whispered, “I know you just wanted to look out for me.”  
Lance drifted off with a smile on his face.

**Five- Silent Heat**

Keith was infinitely grateful for suppressants, he didn’t really have an issue going through heats, they were just kind of annoying. When you were trying to defend the universe, taking a few days off every three months was not practical. Didn’t mean taking suppressants completely erased the effects of heat, just mostly.

Keith padded around the ship’s corridors, eyes flicking around and nose pointed up, what he was looking for was a bit of a mystery to him. Well whatever, he’d either find it or forget about it soon enough. He was wearing Lance’s jacket, having pulled it on after his post-training shower. It was saturated in Lance’s scent, making it difficult to track the other man down, because that’s what he wanted, Lance. Not that Lance was difficult to track down anyway, the new castle might be huge but there weren’t many places he tended to be.

Lance was in the second place Keith checked, curled up on one of the sofas, leaning against the arm with a book in his hand. He looked incredibly comfortable, blanket draped over his legs, eyes flicking lazily over the page. Keith just stood there for a few minutes, watching him, a probably love-stuck look over his face.

Finally, he couldn’t resist it any longer, padding over. Lance glanced up and smiled at him, before returning to his book. Keith flicked his eyes over the sofa, working out the best place for him to squeeze in. Ducking down, he slipped under Lance’s arm, tucking himself against Lance’s chest. Yes this was good.

“Keith?”  
“Mmm?”  
“What are you doing?”  
“Cuddling.”  
“You could’ve asked me to move.”  
“It’s fine like this.”  
Keith curled up tighter, pressing himself right against Lance’s chest.  
“I want some blanket though.”  
“Well, you’re laying on it.”

The blanket was readjusted so it covered the both of them. Keith began to purr, closing his eyes as he burrowed right into Lance’s side. Shifting slightly, Lance curled his arms around Keith, holding his book behind Keith’s back. Now that, that was even better.


	2. Plus One

_There are many ways heats and ruts can go wrong, mostly heats as they are the most commonly occurring. Dry heats are the most common, where the omega goes through a heat but without the sexual desire. False ruts are also relatively common, where the alpha exhibits similar non-sexual behaviours of ruts but much more intensely. Sharing a heat with an omega is an incredibly intimate affair, even if there is no sexual component._

**Plus One**

Now the war was over, the Galra split into three different types: those that wanted to leave the war behind them and live in peace, those that wanted to help Voltron and the planets in the old occupied territory and those wanting to take over, try to return the empire to what it once was under a new leader. As most of the glara fell into the first two categories and the others were busy fighting among themselves, it left Voltron with very little to do. Unfortunately, with the new power vacuum, a few other alien races were occasionally trying to rise up and fill the gap left by them. So not nothing to do, but not much.

It was only a year since they had left earth, but they’d decided it was time to head back to take a break. Lance was thrilled, even more so with them taking quite a few aliens back with them, ones hoping to immigrate onto earth. It made the new castle feel bustling and alive, Lance was revelling in the attention.

They’d have to make a few teladuv jumps to get there, the universe was huge after all, Allura would also need rest between them. Along with a few stops they’d promised to make to pick up rebels, it would take about a week to get back to earth. Lance didn’t mind, when the new castle was stationary, he was able to call his family. It wasn’t the same as being with them, but it helped alleviate some of the ache. He could get through a week.

Lance reclined back on the lilo, closing his eyes and relaxing into the soft rocking. Although Coran complained relentlessly on how earth pools were odd and not real pools, he eventually conceded into getting one. After everyone had insisted they couldn’t use an altean one. Lance took full advantage of this new development.

He was so completely into his half-asleep state, Lance didn’t even notice the other person joining hum. Until the lilo turned over and he was dumped unceremoniously into the water. Lance did not squeal as he was thrown in, he simply let out an alarmed sound. He surfaced to the sound of Keith laughing. Grumbling lightly, Lance slipped back underwater, swimming towards his boyfriend, looping his arms around his waist and pulling him under. This led to a wrestling/splashing/dunking fight which only ended when the two of them were laughing through their pants.

They floated together, lilo between them, trading lazy kisses. Lance was grinning widely, which made Keith smile which made kissing difficult. Neither of them seemed to mind though.  
“Urgh,” Keith said, pulling it away, “I came here to talk to you, you’re too distracting!”  
Lance grinned, “It’s a special talent.”  
Keith rolled his eyes, shoving Lance slightly so he slipped off a little bit.  
“Lance,” he said shuffling around slightly.  
Oh, Keith was nervous, interesting.  
“Ok,” Lance said, putting on an overly serious face, “Serious time.”  
Keith smiled and laughed lightly, shaking his head.

Keith reached out, tangling their fingers together.  
“Lance,” Keith said, with that stupidly soft look on his face that made Lance’s heart melt, “We’ve been out in space for a year, I need to come off my suppressants.”  
Oh, oh, ohhhh, that’s why Keith was so nervous. Talking about heats could be a sensitive subject, especially an omega’s own heat.  
“Ok,” Lance prompted when Keith bit his lip and looked away.  
“I,” Keith sighed, “I want you to spend my heat with me.”

Lance nodded, made sense.  
“Ok, I’ll sleep beside you again, well unless it turns into another dry heat which would be really unlucky…” Lance started, but Keith cut him off.  
“No Lance, I want to spend my heat with you, in my nest, with me. I want to have sex, I want…I want you to knot me,” Keith said, voice getting quieter as he went on until Lance could barely hear him.  
“You want, you want to spend your heat with me?” Lance said, “You want me in your nest, you want me to knot you?”  
Keith flushed, “That’s what I said.”  
“Are you sure?” Lance asked, “Will we be ok?”  
Keith smiled lightly, nodding.  
“I have birth control,” Keith said, rolling his eyes, “Yes, I really do want to. Only if you want too.”  
Lance beamed, “Of course I do!”  
Keith laughed, it shifting into a giggle as Lance pressed kisses all over his face.

****

There was a slight bit of awkwardness over the next few days, neither of them really all that sure how to behave having never shared a heat before, with anyone. It sort of just got to the point where Keith did what he normally did, organised time off, blankets, food and water. Lance sort of felt, useless, but he didn’t really know what to do and really didn’t want to upset Keith, so he just stood on the side-lines occasionally asking if he could help. They did build the nest together, although Keith, high off hormones and happiness, kept nuzzling into Lance’s neck and chirruping in a very distracting manor. Not that Lance minded much. In the end, Lance was reasonably sure they were ready, they would be fine, hopefully this would go well.

Lance woke up to the feeling of soft lips pressing against his neck, hips rutting lightly against his thigh. That was when the sweet smell of heat and slick hit him. Lance curled his arms tightly around Keith’s waist, flipping them so Keith was pinned underneath him. Keith made the most adorable chirruping noise, hips twitching up and searching for friction. Lance lay down on top of him, pressing his nose into Keith’s neck and slipping his thigh between Keith’s.

Lance relaxed into Keith, pressing his nose right into Keith’s slightly swollen scent glands, rubbing his thigh against Keith’s crotch. Keith was making soft pleasured noises, tilting his head to one side to bare his neck more. Taking the invitation, Lance nipped at them gently calling Keith to yelp and wetness to spread across his boxers. Lance felt a slight haze slip over him, pushing himself up and smiling down at Keith. The omega was spread out over the blankets and pillows, flushed red with black hair spread out around his head.  
“Clothes off?” Lance asked.  
Keith nodded, pawing at Lance’s shirt lightly.

Lance smiled lightly, stripping them both of their boxers and t-shirts. Lance bit his lip at the slick had already leaking out of Keith, spreading across his thighs. It made him wonder how long Keith had been awake before Lance. Keith whined slightly, grabbing at Lance’s arms and trying to pull him back down.  
“It’s ok,” Lance hushed softly, “It’s ok, I’ll take care of you, just relax.”  
“Please,” Keith said, “Please fuck me.”  
“Easy,” Lance said, “Not yet, I won’t be able to keep up with you.”  
Keith grumbled, but relaxed slightly against the pillow.

Lance’s hand slipped down, only brushing lightly against Keith’s dick before pressing lightly against his hole. He just needed to delay until his rut properly kicked in and maybe draw a few orgasms out of Keith while he was at it. Pressing his finger against Keith’s hole, Lance sucked in a breath as it sunk right in. Keith whimpered, shifting slightly. Thrusting and twisting his finger, Lance watched in fascination at the shifting of Keith’s face. It normally took much longer to get Keith up to this point, relaxed enough to let out all his noises, face twisting in pleasure.

Lance slipped a second finger in, twisting and scissoring drawing out even more pleasured noises from Keith. Lance prodded around slightly, he knew where Keith’s prostate was, plenty of experience, so it didn’t take too long. Keith yelled, back arching, muscles drawing tight. It didn’t take too long for Lance to be able to push in a third finger, twisting his wrist and spreading. Keith was whimpering, thrusting his hips down onto Lance’s fingers. When he pushed in the fourth finger, thrusting against Keith’s prostate, Keith yelled, back arching and insides clamping around Lance’s fingers.

Lance groaned, head dropping as Keith shuddered beneath him. He pulled his fingers out, wiping Keith’s slick off them onto the bottom of the nest. Shifting slightly, Lance caught sight of his dick, wow, ok, yeah, he was in rut. It was much bigger than a normal erection, the very start of his knot forming at the base. Keith whined, snapping Lance out of his head.

The omega’s eyes were watery, his face and chest flushed dark. He was stunning.  
“Lance,” he said softly, “Lance, come here please.”  
Lance smiled lightly, crawling slightly over him, pressing their lips together. Keith made soft pleasured noises into the kiss, completely melting beneath Lance’s ministrations.  
“You ready for me?” Lance said softly.  
Keith nodded, flipping onto his front, lifting his hips up, “I’ve been ready forever, come on!”  
“Ok,” Lance said, “Ok, ok, hang on.”

Slowly, ever so slowly, Lance pushed inside. He searched slightly for any signs of distress, any tensing or pained noised. Nothing, Keith was completely pliant, only making light pleasured sound. Lance groaned as warmth enveloped his dick, clenching and relaxing. Keith let out a high pitch cry, practically a scream as white splashed against the bed. Keith coming from just Lance thrusting in, wasn’t that an ego boost.

“Fuck me,” Keith whimpered, “Please fuck me, Lance, Lance, please, I need you, Lance!”  
Lance hushed him softly, running his hand down Keith’s back.  
“It’s ok, it’s ok, I’ve got you,” Lance said.   
Kneeling up, Lance began to thrust into Keith’s pliant body. The omega seemed to have ascended, making high punched-out noises, arms splayed out. Lance smiled lightly, tightening his grip on Keith’s hips and letting his rut take over, thrusts becoming sharp and powerful, burying himself deep in the other’s body.

Lance just fell into it, letting his instincts take over completely. Driving into Keith again and again, until Keith was practically screaming in pleasure as Lance drove into his prostate head-on. Burying his dick completely in Keith’s ass, Lance froze as his knot expanded all the way, locking the two of them together. Keith had gone silent, ass clamping tightly around Lance’s dick. Lance moaned lowly as he came, shooting deep into Keith’s body, causing the other man to whimper slightly.

Lance’s gave out, pushing Keith flat to the bed with a huff of air. Lance pulled the two of them onto their side, hips pressed slightly together to stop any pull against his knot. Lance leaned forwards to check if Keith was ok. He was fast sleep, mouth open as he huffed out gentle breaths. Lance smiled lightly, nuzzling at Keith’s shoulder before settling behind him.

A little later, Lance wasn’t too sure how long, he’d drifted off a bit himself there, Keith blinked awake with a groan. Pushing back against Lance.  
“Keith?”  
Keith hummed, tilting his head back.  
“You all right?” Lance asked, rubbing his hand over Keith’s stomach.  
“Good,” Keith said, “I am so good.”  
Lance nuzzled Keith lightly, smiling at his pleasured noise. This, this was good.

****

Heat and rut over, extensive deep cleaning, blankets in the washer. Keith lent against Lance’s chest, not moving too much with the ache in his ass and back.  
“You alright?” Lance asked.  
“I’m fine,” Keith sighed, “Stop asking.”  
“Sorry,” Lance pouted, “I’m just worried.”  
“Well don’t be,” Keith sighed, “I’m fine, just, relax, bask.”  
“Sorry,” Lance mumbled.  
Keith rolled his eyes, leaning up to press a kiss to Lance’s jaw.  
“That was the best heat I’ve ever had,” he sighed, “Ok?”  
“Oh,” Lance smiled.  
“Don’t let it go to your head,” Keith grumbled.  
Lance turned to press a kiss his cheek.  
“But,” Keith sighed, “I may keep you around for a bit longer, at the very least for my heats.”  
Lance made a happy noise, squishing Keith tighter in his arms, wriggling slightly.  
“Ow! Lance! Lance! Careful!” Keith hissed.  
“Sorry,” said, releasing him.  
“I didn’t say stop hugging me,” Keith grumbled, “Just don’t move.”  
Lance stuck his tongue out, before nuzzling his cheek.

“I love you,” Keith said softly.  
Lance froze, feeling Keith stiffen slightly in his arms.  
“Interesting time to say that,” Lance said, resisting the urge to slap himself.  
Keith snorted out a laugh, before leaning more firmly against Lance’s chest.  
“Sorry, sorry I didn’t mean that,” Lance groaned, dropping his head on Keith’s forehead, “I love you too.”  
Keith hummed happily, before chirruping unexpectedly. Keith’s eyes widened, before slapping his hand over his mouth. Lance cooed, laughing as his chest was slapped lightly.  
“I love you,” Lance cooed, “I love you! I love you! I love you!”  
He punctuated each statement with a kiss. Keith laughed at his antics, batting away Lance’s face.  
“I love you too, you big dork.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know five is not anything going wrong, but I don't care. Anyway, as promised, here is the smutty continuation of this series...also it ruins my naming theme and that upsets me...probably more than it should.
> 
> Comments and kudos always appreciated, I hope you enjoyed and thanks for reading!


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